Mariinsky forces sparkle in Prokofiev's comedy

By Simon Rees, 03 November 2014

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“The Mariinsky orchestra... makes Prokofiev’s intricate writing shimmer and glitter”

Reviewed at Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff on 2 November 2014

Prokofiev, Betrothal in a Monastery (Concert performance)

Mariinsky Opera

Valery Gergiev, Conductor

Anastasia Kalagina, Louisa

Yulia Matochkina, Clara d'Almanza

Larissa Diadkova, Duenna

Dmitry Voropaev, Don Antonio

Evgeny Akimov, Don Jerome

Roman Burdenko, Don Ferdinand

Sergei Aleksashkin, Mendoza

Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra

Mariinsky Theatre Chorus

The epitome of Russianness: Boris Godunov at the Mariinsky

David Karlin, 20th June

In Tarkovsky's venerable production, the Mariinsky orchestra and chorus are brilliant – but too brilliant for their soloists, including two replacement Borises for an indisposed Mikhail Petrenko.

***11

Intoxicating, mystic, sacred, profane

David Karlin, 19th June

Rodion Shchedrin's opera mixes singing, choreography and storytelling to lend a potent sacred and mystic overlay to Nikolai Leskov's folk tale.

*****

Netrebko takes on Adriana Lecouvreur at the Mariinsky

David Karlin, 18th June

Isabelle Patriot-Pieri's new production is a quirky mix of traditional and the opposite; Netrebko shows her star quality; Eyvasov impresses.

****1

Mariinsky Rheingold a promising start to EIF Ring

David Smythe, 15th August

Valery Gergiev conducts the Mariinsky Opera in a vocally strong Das Rheingold, a promising beginning to Edinburgh International Festival’s Ring in concert over the coming years.

****1

Conflict Unresolved: The Enchanted Wanderer

Jacob Slattery, 14th January

Shchedrin’s opera The Enchanted Wanderer is the complete opposite of shocking and director Alexei Stepanyuk’s staging alongside Valery Gergiev’s command over the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra revealed something of a translucid daydream.

***11

The Mariinsky Ring concludes in Birmingham

Rohan Shotton, 9th November

Valery Gergiev brings George Tsypin's Ring staging to a spectacular close with Götterdämmerung in Birmingham.

****1

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Simon Rees

Simon Rees writes programme articles and surtitles for most British opera companies, and reviews for Opera, Opera Now, Musical Opinion, Early Music Today and a wide range of other publications. A novelist, poet and librettist, from 1989 to 2012 he was dramaturg at Welsh National Opera. He lives in Cardiff.

Betrothal in a Monastery: Mariinsky forces sparkle in Prokofiev's comedy